Bridgeport man has connection with Orlando victims

A Bridgeport man says he has a connection with two of the victims in the Orlando nightclub shooting.

Community activist Wayne Winston tells News 12 he worked closely with 20-year-old Tiara Parker and 20-year-old Patience Carter, both of Philadelphia, whom he had booked at several events while working as an event coordinator.

Both Parker and Carter were shot in the attack, but survived.

Winston says he didn't discover his friends' fates until four days after the shooting and it was hard to believe that two people he knew well had come very close to losing their lives. He says his friends are both still facing months of grueling physical therapy.

"My heart dropped like to my feet," Winston says. "It was total shock."

Winston says he was disturbed by the massacre before he learned of his personal connection to it, but says after he found out that two friends of his could easily have been killed, he was sickened and touched on a deeper level.